Kernal panic

I've got a MBP 17" 2.33 using the latest OS and pretty standard software. It's actually my wife's since she swiped it. I'm stuck with the Dell. Anyway, it's been panicking for quite a while now and someone told me to repair the permissions to hopefully address the problem. After I repair permissions and go to re-verify them, there's always a new list of broken permissions including one, "SUID" that says it can't be repaired.

So I bought a ext. HD (WD Essential SE 750 that's going back) that dismounts in the middle of Time Machine's backup process. I'm unable to re-format it on either computer and it's so slow in transferring files I can't even drag and drop 35G worth of music files without something going wrong and killing the whole process. I hear that a better option to back this thing up would be a 1T Iomega drive with ext. power. For all I know it's the USB supplied power that's causing the dismount problem.

My question is, is it possible that the Mac may have gotten infected with a virus or other malware and it's the cause of this kernal panic problem or is it just a bad OS release that's become corrupted over time, or is it a hardware issue? The logic board was replaced about this time last year out of warranty by Apple along with one RAM stick and the screen. I've always suspected the new logic board is bad but Apple won't agree with me so I'm forced to save all the important files and wipe the drive, re-install the OS, and install all the other software from the backup disk and I don't want to re-install malware (if there is any) from the backup. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

If its just a one off kernel panic dont worry about it. could have been caused by something bad in the ram or bad third party software. if it reoccurs then you may have a hardware problem and so take it to get fixed again.

repairing permissions will unlikely fix a kernel panic problem. ACL and SUID reports when repairing permissions are nothing to worry about. if you get reoccuring permissions problems that may be fine too, but reinstalling will fix that.

It goes through one to three or even more panics per day. So you don't think re-installing the OS will help? I suppose I'll find out since Apple will make me do that to prove it's hardware related. It takes too long to repair this thing. I'm afraid their logic board will be out of warranty by the time I prove the it's defective... Thanks for the quick answer.

Verify permissions for 320 GIG
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jconsole.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib", should be 0, user is 95.
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Libraries", should be 0, user is 95.
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent" has been modified and will not be repaired.

Hmmm... give me instructions like I've never looked for anything before in this command prompt environment and I'll copy and post it.

Nevermind. It's easier than it sounded. I couldn't find a kernal report for this year. Last one is from August. I talked to Apple support. Turns out their repair is only warrantied for 90 days. That's kinda useless. I'm running a proper hardware test on it now, extended, from holding down "D" when starting with the OS install disc in the computer. Not feeling as warm and fuzzy about the whole Apple experience right now. I wonder if there's anyone I can talk to to appeal their stupid useless warranty if it turns out to be a hardware problem? I'll post the results of the HW test shortly...

Oh, forgot to mention what I assumed to be an unrelated problem, but is increasingly looking like it may be connected after all:
It was repaired in Houston last March, just under one year ago. Worked fine at first. Safari released their notorious "update" and it completely messed things up FUBAR. We finally figured out how to reverse the update and shortly after that the battery exploded (slowly) as they typically do distorting the casing and causing the trackpad button to freeze in place and all that. I ordered a new battery, non-OEM to try and save a buck, and the thing worked at first, but it wasn't long before the computer began to stop charging it and intermittently wouldn't recognize it was inserted at all. I figured, non-OEM battery, I'll send it back and have the company replace it. They did, and the replacement battery did the same thing so I bought one straight from Apple and installed it this afternoon. I asked the wife if she sees any difference. She told me she swears the screen is brighter, but the software says it's not charging the battery in the upper corner of the screen. Closed it up to move it from one room to the next, and it shut off as soon as the connection to the wall outlet was broken, so the battery has no juice and truly was not charging while it was in the computer.

Keep in mind the hardware test done holding down the "D" on the keyboard while re-booting with the OS DVD in the drive a couple days ago said there are no problems. I just got the new hard drive this afternoon along with the new battery so I haven't had a chance to use time machine to back things up or whatever software I decide to use. I'm thinking I don't want to back up system files for fear there's a problem with them and restoring would simply bring the problem forward again, so maybe some other software backup program? I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole sequence of events and figure out the root cause so I can learn to avoid it if possible.... Any input would be good. Thanks.

I finally backed up everything on TM to the new HD (Iomega 1T -works just fine and it's nice and quiet too). Did a carbon clone backup too, just in case. I just don't trust Apple software all that much. Re-installed OS X 10.5, upgraded to 10.6 via the DVD I purchased a while back. Then I looked into the battery charging issue. Popped the plug real quick to determine it's showing an accurate charge of 0% and it immediately turned off. It does charge briefly showing an orange light on the adapter, but it never lasts long, turning green and showing the battery not charging. Booted it up again and the screen turned off. Re-booted in software and the screen turned on, I logged in, and it turned off again. Using a flashlight I looked in Hardware profiler and it says the monitor isn't connected! What's going on with this thing? It's updating to the latest version of OS X 10.6 as I type this and then I'm going to look into the screen issue again. The screen initially turned off when I tipped the whole thing back to check that the battery was properly seated and it hasn't turned on again except for when I logged in after re-booting. I'm thinking of how I should go about restoring the apps I have backed up without bringing the cause of the kernel panics over with it all. Any suggestions? Assuming I can get the monitor to work again...

Do you mean the backlight isn`t coming on?
If that`s the case then it could be as simple as a loose connection to the display or the backlight may have failed.
As to the other issues, given that a reinstall does not seem to have helped it`s starting to point to hardware.

I don't know what the deal with the screen was, but after restarting from all the major updates downloaded from the net, the screen is working fine and it's even nice and bright (yes, the backlight wasn't coming on). The battery, however, is not charging. I'll probably end up having to pay for them to diagnose it and replace. When the old one expanded it must've tweaked something inside to cause it to not make the proper connection anymore. Just love when those things explode...

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.